Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 October 2023
65. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Social Protection how many reviews of State (non-contributory) pensions have been carried out in 2023; and how many pensions have been stopped as a result. [46228/23]
View answerState pension non-contributory is a fully means-tested payment for applicants aged 66 and over, habitually residing in the State, who do not qualify for a state pension contributory.
Under the Department’s Compliance and Anti-Fraud Strategy, the state pension non-contributory scheme area has a commitment to an annual level of control reviews and operates an ongoing continuous schedule of control and review activity. The objective is to ensure that customers continue to receive their correct rate of payment over the lifetime of their claim. On review, claimants may have their weekly payment rate unchanged or adjusted upwards or downwards as appropriate, based on their up-to-date means assessment.
Reviews can arise from customer requests for a review of their claim, from targeted and random case selections, or where specific information comes to the attention of the Department. Factors such as length of time since last review, or where information is received from other agencies such as the Revenue Commissioners, or from members of the public, can also trigger control reviews.Information letters are issued annually to a proportion of recipients, on a rolling basis, to remind them of the conditions for continuing receipt of their state pension non-contributory payment and their obligation to notify the Department of changes in their circumstances in a timely manner.
There are currently 99,452 customers receiving the state pension non-contributory. The number of control reviews carried out on state pension non-contributory claims to the end of September this year is 10,191. Of this number, 605 resulted in the payment of state pension non-contributory being stopped.
The Department is committed to ensuring that the principles of due process and natural justice are followed in all state pension non-contributory claim decisions. This applies equally to decisions at initial claim stage and when claims are subsequently reviewed.I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
